Taking Chances
by katienicole426
Summary: This is a story about a kittypet that wants more. Not a very good summary, but I think it's a pretty good story.
1. Chapter 1

Sugar blinked at the morning sunlight and yawned tiredly. Her two kittens were snuggled up to her belly, sleeping. The she-cat could remember her first litter of kittens like they were born yesterday. They were her only other litter of kittens and had been taken by her owners when they were two months old.

"Sugar!" Her female owner yowled. "I didn't know you were having kittens again! We really need to take you to the vet." And with that she filled up the brown tabby and white cat's food dish and ran out of the garage. Sugar rolled her eyes in annoyance. She was considered a pet to her owners, but she didn't consider herself one. She lived in a garage and could come and go as she pleased. They gave her dry food in her food dish, but most of the time she caught her own prey. She had a bed with a heating lamp above it, which was nice, but she always felt like there was more to life than trying to please her owners.

"How are your kits?" Her brother, Max, meowed from her pet door.

"Oh they're fine. I have a boy and a girl." She replied nonchalantly.

"What are you going to name them?" He probed, padding over and leaning in to sniff them.

"I don't know. The girl is white so probably Blizzard. How's that?"

Max shrugged, he didn't have any kits so he didn't really understand the excitement of naming them. "Actually, I don't think you should name them. Won't they be taken away in two months?"

Sugar's eyes opened wide in realization. "Oh no! I'm going to have to find a way to hide them."

"Will your owners will find out eventually, so I would leave if I were you." Max advised. Sugar shook her head, she liked it here. "I guess I don't have any other way of keeping them."

Max nodded with satisfaction and began to leave. "You should name your son Ice, for his ice-blue eyes." He called as he passed through the pet door. Sugar gasped, her kit had opened his eyes and she missed it!

"Who are you?" He asked, his blue eyes opened wide with curiosity.

"I'm your mother, Sugar." She meowed gently. Ice looked around wildly, trying to take everything in at once. "My name is Ice, but who is the one beside me?"

"That's your sister, Blizzard, and the cat that left was your uncle, Max. You look like him."

Ice tilted his head to the side. "How?"

Sugar laughed quietly. "You're both gray."


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next month, Sugar left her kits with her friend, FiFi, and tried to find places to live. One day, after about two weeks, Sugar decided to ask the wild cats in the forest. She padded through her neighborhood and into the forest. She passed the wild cats' scent barriers and kept going.

"Stop." A cat ordered, stepping out from a holly bush.

"Are you one of the forest cats?" Sugar asked, trying not to sound scared.

"Yes. My name is Robinfoot." She replied coolly. "I am a warrior of Thunderclan. What are you doing on our territory? Did you not smell thee scent marks on our border?"

Sugar nodded slowly. "I smelled them, but I wanted to see if you can help me and my kits."

Robinfoot let out an exasperated sigh and looked over her shoulder as if to see if anybody was following her. "I guess I could. I'm supposed to be hunting, but if I catch something on my way back I'll be fine."

Sugar dipped her head in thanks and motioned for Robinfoot to follow her. They followed Sugar's scent trail back until they reached the border. Sugar crossed it and jumped onto a fence. She turned around and saw Robinfoot still at the border. The black she-cat was sniffing the air distrustfully, so Sugar jumped back down and bounded over to her new acquaintance.

"Why are we going so far?" Robinfoot asked accusingly. "Are you planning to ambush me?"

Sugar stared at Robinfoot for a moment.

"What?" The Thunderclan cat asked irritatedly. Sugar shook her and sat down. "I'll just tell you here."

"Make it quick. I still have to catch something."

Sugar twitched her nose in annoyance, but explained herself. "My kittens are three weeks old and when they turn two months old, my owners will take them. I need a new home before my owners take them!"

Robinfoot didn't answer and stared at Sugar for a while. "What did you just say?" She finally asked.

Sugar's jaw dropped. She would have to dumb it down for this cat. "Okay." She began. "Do you know what kittens are?"

Robinfoot nodded. "We call them kits."

"Well my kits are two weeks old." Sugar began again, but Robinfoot interrupted her.

"I don't know what week, months, or owners means." The she-cat meowed, her mouth forming the unfamiliar word strangely.

"Well, a day is when the sun rises until the sun sets and rises again, then it's a new day, and a week is seven of those." Sugar explained.

"Oh I get it. A week is a quarter moon and two weeks is a half moon." Robinfoot meowed excitedly.

"A month is four weeks, so would that be a moon?" Sugar asked.

Robinfoot nodded and Sugar told her all about her predicament. They chatted for a while, and Sugar finally asked if she could bring her kits to Thunderclan.

"No." Robinfoot sighed. "We don't welcome cats with owners."

Sugar bowed her head sadly and Robinfoot licked her head encouragingly.

"Would I be able to start my own clan?" Sugar asked. Robinfoot nodded excitedly. "Yes, but you would have to start it somewhere else."

"That's okay." Sugar meowed. "We could live in the park."

"I don't know what that is, but okay. How about we meet every three sunrises, here, at dawn."

Sugar dipped her head in agreement, said a quick goodbye and padded home to her kits.


	3. Chapter 3

The two cats met every three days for three weeks and by then, Robinfoot had taught Sugar everything she needed to know about clan life.

"I'm ready?" Sugar squeaked with astonishment.

"Yes." Robinfoot replied. "You can start your clan. All you have to do is find some cats and you'll be fine."

Sugar nodded shakily. "Okay. Thank you Robinfoot, I'll never forget you. Goodbye."

The black she-cat dipped her head and disappeared into the forest. Sugar jumped onto a neighbor-cat's fence and leaped into his yard.

"Sugar!" He hissed angrily. "What are you trying to do? Scare me to death?"

Sugar chuckled and touched noses with him. "Hi Ace. How have you been?"

"Good." He replied, lounging in the heat of the sun. "How are our kits?"

"They're fine." Sugar shrugged. "I have a question for you."

"I know, and the answer is yes." Ace meowed. "I've been listening to you and that Thunderclan cat for the last three weeks."

"Oh." Sugar mewed in surprise.

"Well let's go then." Ace ordered.

"What about others?"

"None of the cats around here want to join our clan. Also, I've thought of a great name too. Rockclan." The ginger tom answered excitedly. Sugar licked his cheek and they padded together to her garage.

"Mother! Mother!" Blizzard and Ice yowled as the two grown cats entered the garage through the pet door. As the kits tackled Sugar, Ace bounded over to Max to see if he would like to join Rockclan.

"Mother?" Blizzard whined.

"Yes sweetie?"

"When are we leaving?" Blizzard asked, playing with her mother's tail.

"Now." Sugar replied. Ice let out an excited yowl and then he and Blizzard began play-fighting. Sugar looked over at Ace to see Max shaking his head no. she padded to them to see if she could convince Max, but nothing worked.

"No, Sugar, this is a ridiculous idea. What I meant you should do was find a new owner. I will not participate in this foolish mission." Max growled angrily. Sugar couldn't believe her ears. Her own brother wasn't going to join her clan.

"It's okay." Ace comforted. "We'll find some great cats."

The four cats left the garage for the last time and never looked back.


	4. Chapter 4

"You take the kits and try to find some cats to come to a meeting." Ace ordered Sugar. They had found a perfect place in the park and were ready to start a clan. Sugar rolled her eyes at Ace and gathered her two kits up.

"Mommy? Can we help you?" Blizzard mewed sweetly.

"Of course." Sugar replied. "Honey, I told you to call me Sugar now. We're going to have other cats with kittens, I mean kits, and they'll get confused if everyone calls their mother mommy."

Blizzard nodded solemnly and glanced at Ice who was playing with a caterpillar crawling up his leg.

"That reminds me." Sugar meowed. "You two need clan names and so do Ace and I. Ice, you'll be Icykit."

"Icykit." Icykit whispered to himself. "Icykit. I like it."

"I want to be Mothkit." Blizzard squealed.

"Okay." Sugar agreed. She nudged Mothkit and Icykit into the trees. They padded along slowly until Mothkit stopped suddenly. "Mother?"

"Sugar." Icykit corrected.

"Whatever, I smell someone else." Mothkit announced, her white fur bristling with fear. As soon as she finished telling her mother and brother that, a cat leaped out from a group of bushes.

"Who are you?" She meowed distrustfully.

"Sugar, Icykit, and Mothkit." Sugar replied calmly. "What's your name?"

"That's for me and only me to know." The cat replied.

"I like your fur." Icykit piped up. "What color is that called?"

"Tortoiseshell." The she-cat replied, a little bit softer than before.

"I like it." Mothkit squeaked.

"We were wondering if you would like to join our clan." Sugar interrupted. "If so, come to our meeting at the group of caves. Do you know the place?"

"Yes." The she-cat growled. "I live here."

Sugar nodded and pulled her kits towards the huge neighborhoods.

"Twoleg nests." Sugar corrected herself quietly. She sniffed the air and smelled a ton of other cats. she heard a growling sound behind her and quickly turned to see what it was.

"Dog!" A cat yowled from behind her. Its ginger fur flashed past Sugar and grabbed Icykit and Mothkit. The dog took a step towards Sugar, but the former kittypet had no fear of dogs anymore. She hissed and clawed the dog's nose repeatedly.

"That's right! Keep running!" She called after it. The ginger cat slowly emerged from his hiding spot, revealing the five shivering kits behind him. Sugar's motherly instinct kicked in and she pulled her kits out from the bramble bush cave and tried to help the other kits, but they hadn't even opened their eyes yet.

"They're mine." The tom cat mewed proudly.

"Where's their mother?" Sugar asked worriedly.

"She died yesterday." He replied. Sugar grabbed each kit by their scruff and set them beside her kits. She lay down and let the three snuggle up to her belly.

"My name is Mothkit. My brother is Icykit and well, you already know our names, but I thought you should know who was who." Mothkit mewled bravely.

"My name is Cat." The ginger tom replied. "The black tom is Night, the pale gray she-cat it Flower, and the brown tabby is Timber."

"They're going to die if they don't get some milk soon." Sugar fretted. "Mothkit, Icykit, you are nearly a moon and a half old, which is old enough to go without milk so you are going to eat only solid food. These three need all the milk I have."

Icykit began to whine, but Cat shushed him quietly.

"Why were you named Cat?" Mothkit asked to interrupt the silence.

"That's all the twolegs called me. I've never had an actual name so I just used that." Cat explained, shrugging like it was nothing. "Why were you guys walking around here?"

"We wanted to find cats to join our clan." Mothkit told him. "There's a meeting at the caves, just go there now and Ace should be waiting for you by now."

Cat chuckled and sat down because he couldn't hold himself up anymore from exhaustion. "Of course I'll go, and I'll join your clan too. Anything to help me and my kits survive. I haven't eaten for two days and neither have they."

Mothkit nodded seriously and Icykit knocked her over playfully. They rolled around for a little while until they ran out of energy.

"I'm tired." Icykit whined. Sugar nodded and stood up, unlodging the three new kits from her belly. Cat picked up Flower and Sugar picked up Night, but then they realized that they had no way to carry Timber. Cat set his daughter down gently and crouched down onto his belly. Sugar set Night down as well and nudged Timber onto his father's back. They picked up the other two and slowly began trekking back to the caves with Icykit and Mothkit trudging from behind them. They finally made it back and Sugar's jaw dropped, sending Night falling like a rock towards the hard ground. A cream cat dove beneath the tiny kit and Night landed softly on its belly.

"Thank you so much!" Cat meowed gratefully; picking up the black kit and setting him back down on the ground. Sugar looked around and saw at least seven cats there, including the tortoiseshell she had spoken to earlier.

**Please review! I like this story so far and I hope you do too… keep reading (:**


	5. Chapter 5

Sugar leaped onto the stump with Ace and everyone sat still watching her. Mothkit and Icekit scuffled in the back, but Cat immediately chastised them. Sugar shuddered nervously and began. "Welcome all of you, and thank you for coming to this meeting. My name is Sugar and I was formerly a kittypet."

"Why are you trying to tell us to come live in a Clan with you if you're a kittypet?" A black she-cat scoffed.

"You don't have to stay for this meeting if you won't listen to Sugar." Ace snarled. A white she-cat head-butted her gently. "Swift, calm down. The way we're living now isn't working and we need some help."  
"Star, you can't go around telling random cats that we can't take care of ourselves." Swift hissed. Ace shook his head. "Swift, you're being ridiculous. We have two kittens, or kits, and there's a tom here with three of his own. We need help ourselves and we're willing to work with other cats to stay safe."

Sugar dipped her head. "That's my mate, Ace. I assume you all know of the Clans, correct?"

Each cat nodded.

"We've decided to name our clan Rockclan. We are not accepted by the other Clans, but we will live as they do. Since you all know of the Clans, you know of their ancestors, Starclan, right?"

They all nodded again.

"Starclan will not be our direct ancestors." Sugar explained. "But our kin's kin will know us as their ancestors when we die. We will have our own segment of Starclan."

While she talked, one cat had slunk away, but no other cats made any movement at all.

"Now that you all know everything you need, would you like to join?" Ace asked. All the cats nodded and Mothkit and Icekit bounced up and down excitedly.

"We have our own Clan now." Sugar announced happily. The cats around her looked strong and healthy, which meant their Clan was off to a good start. They had three she-cats and four toms, not counting her own family and Cat and his family. All doubts she had were completely gone now.


	6. Chapter 6

Sugar stood up from her nest and stretched, loosening all her tight muscles. Ace's gaze sparkled and he licked her head gently. "Good morning."

Sugar's ears burned. He was her most favorite cat, but they never truly fell in love. They had kits together and he was a great father, but they had never become true mates even though they always called each other mates when introducing one other.

"Let's go wake up the Clan." He whispered excitedly. Sugar made sure that Icekit and Mothkit were watching Night, Flower, and Timber and when she was sure she padded out into the clearing of their camp. The camp was a small network of six caves and a clearing surrounded by a small woodland area untouched by humans. Right now all the cats were sleeping in separate caves with the cats they felt most comfortable with, but Sugar hoped she could change that soon. She basked in the sun for a couple of moments and Swift and Star came padding out of their cave, followed by a young brown tabby tom named Viper. Sugar poked her head into the other caves and the rest of the cats came tumbling out. There was a small silver tabby she-cat named Smalls, a pale ginger she-cat named Marmalade, a black and white tom named Oreo, and a gray tabby tom named Jingle, and of course Cat.

"Today we're going to set our territory markings." Sugar announced. Some of the cats looked a little tired, but none complained. Ace came up behind her and licked her on the cheek. "I'll take Oreo, Marmalade, Swift, and Jingle. You can take Viper, Smalls, Star, and Cat."

Sugar nodded. "Great idea, but I don't think we should leave the kits here alone."

"Well, then that changes everything." Ace agreed. "Why doesn't Cat stay here?"

Sugar shook her head, a little bit annoyed. "Viper, Smalls, and Star are the youngest and smallest cats. What if we get ambushed?"

Ace rolled his eyes. "The other Clans are nowhere near here."

"There are rogues and loners around here." Sugar said, growing increasingly angry. "Why don't you stay here and I'll take Smalls, Viper, and Jingle around our territory."

"Why don't you stay here and take care of our kits." Ace sneered. Cat stepped forward. "Ace, this was Sugar's idea. She wanted to start the Clan, so she should be in charge."

Oreo, Jingle, and Smalls stepped up too, nodding their heads in agreement with Cat. Ace grumbled a little. "Fine. I'm sorry I tried to overrule you Sugar. I'll stay back and watch the kits." He begrudgingly turned towards the kit cave and trudged into it. Sugar nodded triumphantly. "Well then, now that he's taken care of we can actually get something done. Star, Oreo, Marmalade, Swift, and Cat are going to stay here and check the close surrounding area. Me, Jingle, Viper, and Smalls are going to set our boundaries. If you want, some of you can go hunting. If you decide to do so, Swift should be in charge."

All the cats separated themselves and Sugar led her group of cats out of their small clearing. They padded through the forest, sniffing around for other cats, but not many scents were found. Viper came across a big tom, but the cats scared him off. They set some scent markers and headed back to the caves. Smalls caught a small mouse and Jingle caught a squirrel that was about as big as Viper. The little tabby tom shrunk a little and quietly admitted that he didn't know how to hunt. He'd been scavenging off of other cats. Smalls comforted him quietly, telling him that she would teach him how to hunt. Jingle's whiskers twitched and Sugar rubbed up against him, showing that she knew what he was thinking. They made it back to the caves and saw a small pile of fresh-kill so the two cats dropped their own kill on top. It was about sunhigh now so Sugar gathered all the cats again. Ace was still upset from earlier in the day, so he sat in the back.

"We have enough fresh-kill to share a piece with one cat of your choice. Choose your cat, then choose your prey. Small cats take smaller prey, big cats take bigger prey." Sugar announced, and when she was done she hurried over to Jingle. The gray tabby purred a little, but stopped when he saw Ace's face.

"What is it?" Sugar asked. Jingle hesitated. "I'm not sure if we should do this. I don't want to start off on the wrong foot with Ace."

"Fine." Sugar sighed. Cat had the big squirrel and he dropped it in front of Sugar. "Do you want to share with me?"

"Are you calling me big?" Sugar teased. "This is the biggest kill we've made."

Cat's ears flattened. "No it's not that. I just want my kits to be healthy, and that requires you to be healthy."

Sugar nodded cheerfully. "Okay."

They settled down and began to eat the squirrel. Sugar took a big bite and looked around at every cat. Swift and Star were sharing a sparrow, Smalls and Viper were sharing the mouse the she-cat had caught, Marmalade and Oreo were sharing a thrush, and Ace was forced to share a rabbit with Jingle, but they seemed to be getting along okay. Sugar purred contentedly, even though she and Ace weren't really getting along, the new Clan seemed to be doing really well.

Heya! Still working on all my stories! I hope you like them! Puhleeaassee check out my two new stories, Ruined and A New Home, and please tell me your honest opinion of them. I've only gotten one review for each one and I kinda want to know what people think of them! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)


	7. Chapter 7

"I think it's time to name everyone." Sugar announced after she had finished eating with Marmalade. Their Clan was days old now, so she decided it was time to get everything finalized. The cats circled around her and Sugar looked around, trying to remember what she'd decided to name all the cats. Swift stepped forward. "You can name me first."

Sugar nodded, her mind racing. "Swift, your new name is Swiftleg, for your quickness."

The black she-cat looked happy with the name and moved back to her spot, only to be replaced by Cat.

"Cat, your new name is Yellowfur, for your ginger pelt." Sugar looked at Jingle and purred a bit. "Jingle, your name will be Silvernose, for your silver muzzle. Marmalade, you will be Tabbyfur, for your fur. Viper, Smalls, and Star, you will all be apprentices so your names will be Viperpaw, Smallpaw, and Creampaw. Ace, you'll be Gingerstripe, and Oreo, you'll be Spottedfur."

"What's your name going to be?" The newly named Silvernose asked. Sugar tilted her head, she hadn't thought of that. "I don't know, what do you think?"

"Sugarstripe!" Timber squeaked. Sugar dipped her head. "Good idea Timber. Also, the kits will be named Nightkit, Timberkit, and Flowerkit, and I've decided to change Icykit's name to Icekit."

"I'm Flowerkit and I'm hungry." The little she-cat mewled. Sugarstripe shook her head with bemusement and led all the kits to the kit cave. Ace followed her and when the kits settled down at Sugarstripe's belly, he sat in front of her.

"What?" Sugarstripe asked, with a hint of a growl. Ace narrowed his eyes at her. "What's wrong between me and you?"

"Seriously?" The she-cat meowed. "We've only been a Clan for about a day, and you're challenging everything I say. The other cats are noticing and I'm worried it's going to make them question me. Just listen to me."

"Well, I can't help it if you aren't doing things the right way." He mumbled.

"Put a mouse in it, Gingerstripe." Sugarstripe snapped. The tom rolled his eyes. "Whatever, it doesn't even matter."

Sugarstripe felt like her heart was breaking in two as he left. Maybe they shouldn't have done this. They'd never fought when they had their own homes. Sugarstripe set her head down and waited for the little muffled snores from the kits before she got up to go back to the Clan. Gingerstripe was sharing tongues with Tabbyfur, and Silvernose was basking in the setting sun with Yellowfur. Sugarstripe padded over to the two toms and laid beside them.

"How are the kits?" Silvernose asked. Sugarstripe shrugged. "Fine, they all fell asleep, surprisingly."

Yellowfur tilted his head to the side. "Why? Aren't they doing okay now?"

"Oh, yes they're fine." Sugarstripe assured. "It's just that I was arguing with Ace, I mean Gingerstripe. He still won't listen to me."

Silvernose shook his head. "I don't get that. He seemed fine when he was trying to get all of us in the Clan. He backed you up on everything and now I don't see that."

"Are you two still mates?" Yellowfur asked. "You don't have to answer, but I was just wondering."

"That's just it." Sugarstripe sighed. "We've never officially been mates, but we've always sort of been mates, if that makes sense."

"None at all." Silvernose chuckled. He stood up and went to the warrior sleeping cave. Sugarstripe watched him go and Yellowfur let out a quiet laugh.

"What?" Sugarstripe demanded.

"You're mooning over him." The tom whispered, so Gingerstripe wouldn't hear.

"No I'm not, we're just friends."

The sun set and gradually the cats all went to their assigned caves. Sugarstripe was in the kit cave and couldn't go to sleep. She was too worried about Gingerstripe. Finally, after what seemed like moons of worrying, she dozed off.


	8. Chapter 8

ROCKCLAN (just so you don't get confused)

Sugarstripe: brown tabby and white she-cat (Sugar)

Gingerstripe: dark ginger tom (Ace)

Yellowfur: ginger tom (Cat)

Silvernose: gray tabby tom (Jingle)

Swiftleg: black she-cat (Swift)

Tabbyfur: pale ginger she-cat (Marmalade)

Spottedfur: black and white tom (Oreo)

Smallpaw: small silver tabby she-cat (Smalls)

Creampaw: white she-cat (Star)

Viperpaw: brown tabby tom (Viper)

Icekit: gray tom

Nightkit: black tom

Mothkit: white she-cat

Timberkit: brown tabby she-cat

Flowerkit: light gray she-cat

"Wake up. You have a visitor."

Sugarstripe blinked and saw Gingerstripe hovering over her face. Their kits were tumbling about in the cave and Sugarstripe hissed quietly. They stopped and sat still.

"Who's the visitor?" Sugarstripe asked, trying to sound nice. Gingerstripe seemed to notice the effort so he backed off a bit and let her sit up.

"Well?" Sugarstripe insisted.

"I don't know." Gingerstripe stammered. Sugarstripe realized that he wasn't used to her being so pushy, but she liked feeling empowered and in charge. Maybe she should be leader, but who would be her deupty and who would be medicine cat? She hadn't even thought of those things! Rockclan was all put together except for the positions of the cats. Gingerstripe let out a little cough that brought Sugarstripe back to the present. She stood up and padded out into their small camp clearing. A light gray tabby tom and a light ginger tabby she-cat sat up straight, waiting for Sugarstripe. Smallpaw and Viperpaw were watching them suspiciously, because the cats looked around the camp, trying to take everything in.

"What are you here for?" Viperpaw whispered, trying to sound vicious without Sugarstripe knowing.

"Yeah." Smallpaw hissed lowly. "Are you trying to destroy our Clan?"

The newcomers exchanged bemused looks and laughed quietly.

"Of course not." The tom chuckled. "We're here to see Sugar. We heard she was one of the wild cats now and thought we should see her."

"My kits." Sugarstripe breathed, running towards the cats. "I haven't seen you since my owners took you away!"

The cats rubbed against their mother, purring loudly.

"Sugarstripe?" Silvernose murmured. "Would you please introduce everyone?"

The she-cat nodded happily. "Of course, of course. Rockclan, gather here!" She waited until the cats were all gathered around and she began. "These are two of my kits from my first litter. I had three, but I don't know where their brother is. The she-cat is Ginger and the tom is Ralf. Now, let me introduce you to my new Clan. The dark ginger tom is your father, Ace, but now we call him Gingerstripe. The other ginger tom is Yellowfur, the gray tom is Silvernose, the black she-cat is Swiftleg, the ginger she-cat is Tabbyfur, and the black-and-white tom is Spottedfur. Those were our warriors. We have three apprentices, Creampaw, Smallpaw, and Viperpaw. You've already met Viperpaw and Smallpaw, but Creampaw is the white she-cat by Swiftleg, they're sisters."

The cats were nodding slowly, taking everything in.

"Why did you introduce us as the kits from your first litter though?" Ginger asked. Sugarstripe purred a little and motioned for all the kits to sit around her. Mothkit and Icekit led the way and Timberkit, Flowerkit, and Nightkit followed dutifully.

"Wow, all these are yours?" Ralf gasped. "Five kits is unusual."

"No, only the bigger ones are mine. The other three are Yellowfur's, but his mate died so I've been nursing them."

Ginger purred. "That's great. Well, I bet you're wondering why we're here, so I'll explain. We were taken to different homes, right next to each other, and we lived like you did, or how Max does. My owner was an older lady and she died not too long after I was taken there, so I lived with Ralf. We heard about a cat named Sugar, fitting your description, from a tortoiseshell named Fringe, that had started a Clan. Fringe said the life wasn't for her, but told us where the Clan was. We decided to come and see if it was you, and it was!"

"Well I'm glad my kits decided to come visit us." Gingerstripe meowed, before Sugarstripe could say anything.

"Hold on." Silvernose interrupted. "These are both of your kits. You never even met them, so you can't just call them _your_ kits. Also, they might want to stay here, and you're just pushing them away. You're not even in charge of Rockclan!"

"At least I'm not mooning over a cat that already has a mate." Gingerstripe sneered. "You're fighting a losing battle, Jingle."

Sugarstripe felt her blood boil at Gingerstripe's insolence. "Put a mouse in it Gingerstripe, you're acting like a piece of fox-dung. Silvernose isn't Jingle anymore. He became a member of this Clan when he got his new name, and he deserves it. You don't deserve to be a member of this Clan."

"Fine." Gingerstripe snarled. "I'm leaving. This Clan is going to fail anyways." His amber eyes softened momentarily, and he looked at Sugarstripe. "I'm sorry that our relationship deteriorated so quickly, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. We were better off as neightbers." He shook his head and started to walk away.

"Wait, Gingerstripe!" Silvernose called. "We don't really want you to leave."

"Just call me Ace now." The ginger tom replied, disappearing.

"I'm sorry you guys had to see that." Sugarstripe apologized to her older kits. "He's been trouble since day one."

"No problem." Ralf shrugged. "He seems like a bit of a sourpuss anyways. Do you think we could talk to you in private?"

Sugarstripe nodded and led her two kits into the kit cave. They all sat down and Sugarstripe curled her tail around her paws to keep herself warm.

"I wanted to join the Clan." Ginger blurted excitedly. "It seems really cool, and I think I would feel more at home here."

"What about you, Ralf?" Sugarstripe asked. The tom shook his head. "Sorry mother, but no. I have a mate and a good life back at my home. I wouldn't mind visiting, but it wouldn't work."

Sugarstripe nodded. "That's fine. I just can't believe I'm seeing my kits again!"


End file.
